Sliding door mounting



Oct. 23, 1962 J. R. ROLAND 3,

SLIDING DOOR MOUNTING Filed Aug. 22, 1960 -TQ F|G.l. Io 02,0? 0 (H250 o 2, J 1

O 0 I 0 O O69 0v 0 5 ol:: 6 loollo '1 I II\ II 9 \l 1 MM '1 El [51 1 INVENTOR JOHN R. ROLAND HTTOR EYS United States Patent G 3,059,289 SLIDING DOOR MOUNTING John R. Roland, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Seal-Kap Corporafion of Delaware, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 51,207 4 Claims. (Cl. 20-23) The invention relates to railway car doors, and more particularly to vertically adjustable supporting means for sliding car doors of the type which close into a door opening in the side wall of a car, the door when fully closed being substantially flush with the car side wall.

Doors of this type are usually provided near their sides with vertical shafts journaled on the outer surface of the door and mounting cranks at their upper and lower ends, the upper cranks being connected to a retainer guide on the side wall over the door opening and the lower cranks being pivotally connected to and supported on roller carriages carried by a track mounted on the car side wall below the door opening. To prevent binding of the door on the threshold plate when it is fully closed, or while it is being shifted into or out of its flush position, means are required for vertically adjusting the height of the door with reference to the supporting track.

It is accordingly a main object of the invention to provide vertical adjusting means for flush car doors.

It is a further object to provide vertical adjusting means for flush car doors, in which the adjustment is not atfected by vibration resulting from motion of the car.

It is an additional object to provide simple, manually operable, vertical adjusting means for flush car doors, incorporated entirely in the door roller carriages.

In the accompanying drawings in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated:

- FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side view of a railway car showing the mounting of a flush door thereon.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side View, partially sectionalized, of a roller carriage embodying the invention, and the associated crank.

FIGURE 3 is a top view, partially sectionalized, of the carriage illustrated in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the lock washer and adjusting screw of the invention.

\ FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view showing the lock washer at its uppermost position.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view alongthe line 6-6 of FIGURE 1.

The numeral 1 generally indicates a railway house car side wall having a rectangular door opening 3 bounded atits lower edge by threshold plate 5. On the outside of side wall 1 below the door opening 3 there is a track 7 for slidably supporting a flush door 9. When closed, door 9 is positioned with its outer surface substantially flush wtih the outer surface of car side wall 1.

Door 9 is provided with a pair of spaced vertical mounting shafts 11, 11 each journaled in upper and lower bearings 15 and 17 and an intermediate bearing 19 aflixed to the outer surface of the door. For connecting the mounting shafts to the car side and to provide for shifting of the door outwardly from its flush position, the mounting shafts are each provided with upper and lower crank arms 21 and 23. Upper crank arms 21 are connected to top guide 25 alfixed to side wall 1 above the door opening. Door 9 is supported on crank arms 23 by the engagement of the enlarged upper end 24 of crank arms 23 with the lower edges of bearings 17. Each of lower crank arms 23 is provided at its free end with a vertical pin 27, which is eceived and supported within a vertical recess 29 in roller carriage 31 mounted on track 7.

3,059,289 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 The door 9 can be moved from its closed position flush with side wall 1 to an open position by first shifting it outwardly on cranks 23 and then rolling the entire assembly lengthwise of the car on track 7.

To prevent binding of the door in the opening, it is essential that the bottom edge of the door should at all times be maintained a slight distance above the threshold plate 5. This is accomplished, according to the invention, by a vertical adjustment device incorporated in each of the carriages 31.

Carriages 31 each consist of a pair of spaced side walls 33, 34 connected by a continuous top and end wall structure 37 and forming a pair of longitudinally-spaced, downwardly-open recesses in which rollers 39 are rotatably journaled on pins 40. For guiding carriages 31 on track 7, the end portions of inner wall 33 are extended down-v wardly as at 41 to a level lower than the bottom of rollers 39 and the outer wall 34 is similarly extended downwardly and inwardly as at 43 so as to partially underlie the bottom of the horizontal flange of track 7. The recess 29 for crank pin 27 is formed in transverse wall structure 45 extending between the side walls 33, 34 and includes a horizontal bottom wall 41 at substantially the level of the roller pivot pins 4%). The carriage side walls 33 and 34 are upwardly apertured, to the level of bottom wall 47, in the region between rollers 39.

The vertical adjustment device comprises an upright screw 49 passing through a threaded opening in horizontal bottom wall 47 of carriage 31, the upper end of the screw bearing against the lower end of crank arm pin 27. For preventing undesired rotation of the screw, a U-shaped washer 51, rectangular in plan and formed with a circular hole 53, of suflicient diameter to receive the shank of screw 49, in its upper leg 54, and with a registering noncircular, preferably square, hole 55, of suflicient size to receive the noncircular, preferably square, head 57 of the screw, in its lower leg 58, is carried by the screw, with its shank normally passing through the circular hole and its head normally received within the square hole and seated against the upper leg. A conical coil spring 59, concentric with the screw 49 and seated against the bottom surface of carriage bottom wall 47, constantly urges the lock washer into engagement with the head of screw 49, and preventsvibration of the washer. To prevent substantial rotation of the lock washer and consequent rotation of the screw, the edge 61 of inner wall 34, defining the aperture in which the lock washer is received, are vertical and are spaced apart only a slightly greater distance than the width of the washer, whereby any tendency throughout the range of vertical adjustment of the Washer to rotate is opposed by the engagement of the sides of the washer with vertical edges 61. To permit the maximum vertical adjustment, spring 59 is of the conical type, so that due to the nesting of its coils it may be compressed substantially flat, as shown in FIGURE 5, and the screw rotated to a position slightly higher than that shown in FIGURE 5.

When it becomes necessary to make an adjustment to provide the proper clearance between the bottom of door 9 and threshold plate 5, washer 51 is manually pushed upwardly, compressing spring 59; as pointed out above, due to its conical configuration, the spring may be compressed to the extent that its height is just the diameter of the wire, as in FIGURE 5. When the square hole in the bottom leg of the washer clears the upper surface of the square head of screw 49, the screw may be rotated either upwardly or downwardly to the desired position, whereupon the lock washer may be permitted, as a result of the pressure of the conical spring, to be come seated with its upper leg against the upper surface of the screw head and with the head received within the square hole in the bottom leg, thus locking the screw against rotation relative to the washer, which in turn is prevented from rotating by engagement with the vertical edges 61 of inner side wall 33.

Door 9 is provided with a hand hold 62 at its right end, and also mounts a pair of spaced locking shafts 63, 63 each of which has an offset lug 67 at each end engageable with suitably slotted keepers 69 aifixed to the side wall above and below the door. Each of the locking shafts may be controlled by a handle 71 pivoted to the shaft as at 73 As various changes could be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Door structure for an upright wall having an opening therein, comprising a flush door receivable within said opening, a horizontal track mounted on said Wall below said opening, a carriage mounted on said track for movement lengthwise thereof and having spaced apart side walls and an upwardly open recess in the vertical plane of said track, a crank arm having a depending pin at one end rotatably received in said recess and supporting the flush door at its other end for movement into and out of said door opening, a horizontal wall forming the bottom of said recess, said horizontal Wall mounting a vertically disposed screw engaging the bottom of said pin and having an enlarged non-circular head at its lower end, a non-circular washer having an upper restricted opening and a lower registering noncircular opening, the shank of said screw passing through said restricted opening and the head of said screw nonrotatably received within said noncircular opening, spaced vertical surface portions of a side wall of said carriage being engageable with spaced apart points on the periphery of said washer throughout the range of vertical adjustment of said screw for preventing substantial rotation of said washer and said screw, and a conical coil spring surrounding said screw and extending between said bottom wall and said washer and biasing the washer downwardly against the head of said screw.

2. Door structure according to claim 1 in which said washer is rectangular in plan and a side wall of the carriage is apertured below said horizontal wall, the aperturedefining vertical surfaces of said side wall being spaced apart a slightly greater distance than one side of said washer and constituting said vertical surface portions, said washer having an end portion extending into said aperture and adapted to engage the vertical edges thereof.

3. A carriage for supporting a flush door-mounting crank arm, comprising a housing having spaced apart side walls and including anti-friction support means spaced apart lengthwise of said housing, an upwardly opening recess in said housing in the common vertical plane of said anti-friction means, the vertical pin on the crank arm being pivotally received within said recess, a substantially horizontal wall'closing the bottom of said recess, an upright screw passing through said horizontal wall and adapted to engage the bottom of the crank arm pin with its upper end, an enlarged noncircular head on the lower end of said screw, a noncircular washer carried by said screw and having an upper restricted and a registering lower noncircular opening of substantially the same shape as said screw head in its lower surface, the shank of said screw passing through both said openings and the head of said screw being nonrotatably received within said noncircular opening, spaced vertical surface portions of a side wall being engageable with spaced apart points on the periphery of said washer through-out the range of its vertical movement for preventing substantial rotation of said washer and said screw, and conical coil spring surrounding said screw and extending between said bottom wall and said washer and biasing said washer downwardly against the head of said screw.

4. A carriage for supporting a flush door mounting crank arm, comprising a housing having spaced apart side walls and rollers journaled in said housing and spaced apart lengthwise thereof, said housing including vertical wall structure intermediate said rollers forming an upwardly open cylindrical recess in the vertical plane of said rollers, the vertical pin of the crank arm being pivotally received in said recess, a substantially horizontal wall closing the bottom of said recess, an upright screw mounted in said horizontal wall and extending upwardly into said recess to engage the bottom of said crank arm pin, an enlarged noncircular head on the lower end of said screw, a rectangular washer carried by said screw and having an upper restricted opening and a lower larger registering noncircular opening, the shank of said screw passing through both said openings and the head of said screw normally being nonrotatably received within said noncircular opening, said carriage side wall extending downwardly to a lower level than said horizontal wall and being vertically apertured below said horizontal wall, the aperture-defining edges of said side wall being substantially vertical throughout the range of vertical movement of said washer on said screw and spaced apart lengthwise of the carriage a slightly greater distance than the width of said washer, said washer having an end portion extending into said aperture and adapted to engage said vertical edges whereby to limit its rotation, and a conical coil spring surrounding said screw and extending between said horizontal wall and said washer for biasing said washer into engagement with the head of said screw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

